1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the arrangement for the wheels of a pool cleaner wherein when a first or a second wheel is imparted with a predetermined angular relationship relative to a housing for the pool cleaner, a tie rod ensures that the first and second wheels will have substantially the same angular relationship relative to the housing.
2. Description of Background Art
A pool cleaner should be designed to traverse a pool whereby the entire bottom surface of the pool is cleaned. Hithertofor, a laterally offset fixed bumper element was provided on both ends of a pool cleaner to contact a sidewall of the pool and thereafter pivot the pool cleaner to assume a different trajectory when the motor for the pool cleaner is reversed. Thus, as the pool cleaner traverses the bottom of the pool, the bumper element will engage a sidewall of the pool and the angular relationship of the pool cleaner relative to the pool sidewall will be changed so that the pool cleaner will assume a different trajectory as it reverses direction.
In addition, pool cleaners are available that employ three wheels wherein one of the wheels is mounted on an axle that determines the direction of trajectory of the pool cleaner. The third wheel is mounted separately from the pair of wheels that support the pool cleaner for permitting a free-wheeling of the third wheel for enabling the pool cleaner to change directions.
If a pool cleaner is constructed with a single wheel that is pivoted relative to the pool cleaner housing, as the single pivoted wheel engages a wall surface of the pool, the pool cleaner will tend to move at an angle away from the longitudinal axis as it causes extra drag and tends to guide the unit to move at an angle to its longitudinal axis while the other non-pivotal wheels tend to make the unit travel along the longitudinal axis. This causes the unit to be unstable and move in an initial arc and then finally straighten our as long as all four wheels have the same friction between the wheels and the surface of the pool.
If a pool cleaner is constructed with two front wheels that are pivoted relative to the pool cleaner housing, as the left wheel swings to the left the right wheel swings to the right. When this happens, both wheels that are at opposing angles relative to the housing for the pool cleaner will create an equal and opposite drag that will result in a balanced and therefore a stable reversing motion which is undesirable for swimming pool cleaners.